


Skybound

by WhalNar



Category: Ninjago - Fandom
Genre: Lots of Angst, Ninjago season 6, Ns6, Skybound - Freeform, jay you poor soul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-26 22:20:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12068112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhalNar/pseuds/WhalNar
Summary: What happened on the Misfortune's Keep during Season 6. Jay's POV.





	Skybound

 Tiger Widow Island.

 That's where it all started.

 Due to a unanimous decision made by Nya, Cole and Lloyd, I was the lucky guy who got to go into the Tiger Widow's cave and extract its venom. Nadakhan found us while I was still wrestling the giant spider, the others had to fight Nadakhan and his crew without me. Through a terrifying sequence of events, I managed to get the venom. The Tiger Widow chased me out of the cave, and me and the others ran across an old rope bridge suspended above a huge, deep canyon. The bridge couldn't handle all of our weight plus the spider's, and half of it fell. We were dangling along the side of the canyon, hanging onto old wooden planks and musty rope, the spider still snapping at my heels, when Nadakhan appeared next to me and told me to wish it all away. Of course I refused, so Nadakhan made me drop several feet. I fell past the Tiger Widow, screaming the whole way, and then Nadakhan caught me by my arm.

 I was still holding the canteen. Nadakhan took it right out of my hand and poured the contents out into the depths of the canyon.

 "Say goodbye to your friends!"

 Next thing I knew, I was tied up with duct tape over my mouth, sitting in one of Nadakhan's aircraft. "I'll be back for the rest of you," Nadakhan shouted at my friends, "and since you have no way off the island, I'll know exactly where to find you!" And then we flew away. I watched the island disappear as I got further from my friends. The only hope I felt was the fact that Nya and I had switched canteens. The one Nadakhan poured out was full of water. Nya had the venom. She had the only thing that could stop Nadakhan. They could still save me.

 When we got to the Misfortune's Keep, I was immediately put to work mopping the deck. They had a huge ball and chain made of Vengestone put around my ankle, so I couldn't use my elemental powers. I was helpless, but I didn't feel helpless just yet. Again, Nadakhan tried to get me to wish it all away. Again, I refused. My friends would come for me. I was sure of it.

 I believe my exact words were "If I didn't have this Vengestone ball and chain, I'd zap you clean off this ship!"

 That only prompted Nadakhan to go further.

 "I can see why she once liked you. You're stronger than you appear. But I know it's all an act. Deep down you're scared, you know you're weak. You make jokes to mask that you're afraid. That's why you didn't do anything when she fell for your friend. Why you can't do anything when she falls for me. Believe me, aboard my ship you will break! I will make sure of it, and when that time comes, I will be there so you can wish it away."

 I had remained silent the entire time he talked. I turned away and closed my eyes, tried to focus on mopping the dirty wooden floor, anything to ignore what he was saying. I desperately wanted to ignore it, because it was true. Everything about me was an act. My jokes masked my fear and my weakness. When Nya started to develop feelings for Cole I blamed it on myself. I was just some poor, weak junkyard boy. She'd be better off with him anyway. I was mad at Cole because Nya was the first person who ever made me feel like I was allowed to be myself. Like I wasn't worthless, like I didn't have to hide everything with a mask. But people move on, I suppose. I guess she liked me better with the mask on. I got mad at Cole, my best friend, for being better than me, but I never got mad at Nya, because I could never get mad at Nya. She was amazing, and no matter who she fell in love with, I would always think she was too brilliant for me to be allowed to get mad at her. But I never tried to bring back the part of me that she fell in love with. The arrogant, proud, boastful mask went back up, but I kept chasing Nya. I was desperate to keep that feeling of being worth something, but I was also desperate to keep my walls up, which only drove her further away. The moment I felt that was the moment I realized that I was helpless. But I wasn't about to let Nadakhan know he'd gotten to me.

 I responded with "Still not gonna say it!" and nothing else. I don't think Nadakhan noticed that what he said put a dent in me. I really was a good actor.

 Nadakhan made me clean the Misfortune's Keep's entire hull. Even Flintlocke, Nadakhan's first mate, thought that was going too far. I was hanging off the edge of the ship, hundreds of feet in the air. I didn't even have a harness. I had to use one hand to scrub and one hand to hang on for dear life. That ball and chain weighing me down was no help, either.

 "You're not afraid, are you?" Nadakhan asked. I angrily replied with "I love it!" and continued to aggressively scrub the side of the ship. I laughed as Nadakhan grunted and stormed away. I liked that I could get to him, too.

* * *

 

 I spent that night in a cold, dark cell. With nothing else to do, I thought back to how I couldn't stop chasing Nya. About how my desperation was the reason I was in this mess. I was so stupid for using those two wishes. For making myself a target. I was even more stupid than anyone else who made wishes because my wishes were made in an attempt to win Nya back. And the worst part was, that even though I realized this, I still couldn't let her go. I was actually starting to move on when I saw my future reflection, and the reflection said that I would turn out with Nya. That reflection started me right back on the path of shame. I was so excited that Nya and I would actually end up together. That the most amazing person I've ever met would fall back in love with me. I'm a very impatient person, it's one of my many flaws, and I was back to chasing her. And in the end, all it got me was a stay in a dark, dirty cell on an old pirate ship. My hands were sore from holding onto the ship, my fingers bleeding from the pressure, my arm had a bruise where Nadakhan had grabbed it mid-air, and I felt completely useless.

 The next day I was scrubbing the floors again whilst tuning out Clancee, a Serpentine member of the crew, and his stories about how everyone was lost before meeting Nadakhan. A couple feet away, Flintlocke was talking with a crew member named Doubloon over a table with some ship schematics, a quill, and an empty bottle. I needed a way to get a message to my friends, and I felt that was my best bet. Flintlocke and Doubloon left and the table was unguarded. That was my chance.

 I grabbed my back and screamed in pain, "Ow! Oh, my back! Oh that's it, if only I could wish this pain away!"

 Clancee jumped. "What'd you say?"

 I flopped on the ground and exclaimed, "I finally reached my breaking point!"

 "Well, j-j-just hold on," Clancee said before running to where ever Nadakhan was screaming "Cap'n come here! We broke him! We finally broke him!"

 I really was a great actor.

 Now that I was alone, I dropped my scrub brush and ran to the table, carrying my ball and chain in my arms so that it didn't drag along the floor. I flipped the schematics over and wrote "Friends, if you find this, I am doing fine. Please don't worry about me. Worry about stopping Nadakhan. Your friend, Jay."

 I really did mean every word. I wasn't what was important. Stopping Nadakhan mattered more than whatever happened to me. I also stressed the word "friends" because I was starting to feel like maybe we weren't still friends, and I was trying to convince myself we were.

 I could hear Nadakhan coming with Clancee, so I hurriedly put the message in the bottle and ran to the edge of the deck, bottle in one hand and ball and chain in the other. I jumped to the deck below, already being chased by the crew. I began throwing things at them to slow them down, like small boxes and old buckets, but I was at the edge of the ship. Monkey Wretch, the ship's cyborg primate mechanic, and Dogshank, a hulking beast of a woman, were closing in on me when I jumped backward, off the ship. I landed on the balloon of a smaller airship that was passing below the Misfortune's Keep.

 Nadakhan launched Clancee onto the balloon, and we began fighting. Clancee still had his mop, and he swung it at me. I dodged it and flipped over him. He turned around and swung again, and again. I was dodging all of his attacks when Doubloon, who happened to be piloting the vessel we were on, increased the speed, knocking both of us off our feet. The ship crashed into one of the smaller floating chunks of land that made up Djinnjago and Clancee and I were launched off of the balloon. I grabbed onto a rope tying the chunk of land to another chunk of land and pulled myself up, while Clancee held onto my ball and chain, which did not make things easier. Doubloon hopped off the ship and knocked me off of the rope and Clancee and I fell to a smaller island below the one we crashed into. Clancee was hanging off the edge, and Doubloon jumped down to the little island I was on. I slid along another rope tied to a different piece of land, and untied the rope so that Doubloon would have to take a different route to follow me. We kept up this game of island-hopping, until eventually I reached a dead-end. I was on a tiny chunk of land that wasn't tied to anything else. But I saw something floating in the clouds not far away, so I jumped, and landed on a floating, spiky ball.

 I looked up to see Doubloon smiling. Suddenly, the Misfortune's Keep rose out of the clouds, and the whole crew was laughing.

 "You seem to have landed on a sky mine!" Nadakhan announced, still chuckling. "One shot from Flintlocke, and kaboom!"

 I still had the message in the bottle, and I could see the water below me, so I dropped it behind my back and into the ocean, and to cover it up, I quickly threw my hands in the air and yelled "Alright, I surrender!" I made sure to look defeated, as if my escape plans had been foiled. But the message was sent, I just had to hope my friends would receive it.

 That night I was back to scrubbing the deck when I was approached by Flintlocke.

 "You hungry?" He asked.

 "Does it matter?" I responded. I was worn out, both from the constant cleaning and from the little stunt I had pulled earlier. When they got me back my reward was a hard slap in the face from Nadakhan's hook. My cheek was still bleeding.

 "Cap'n would like to see you fer dinner," Flintlocke said, unlocking my ball and chain, "ain't a request. It's an order." Flintlocke had two guns pointed at my head, so I decided to go with him. We entered Nadakhan's room to find a table full of delicious-looking food, with two lit candles at either end of the table. Behind the table stood Nadakhan, smiling fiendishly.

 "Please, please, eat something, you must be famished. But I must warn you, don't try anything foolish." Nadakhan waved away Flintlocke, and suddenly it was just me, him, and Dogshank playing mandolin in the corner. I sat down at the table. 

 I knew he was up to something, so I said "Don't think you can butter me up like a bread roll and expect me to make my last wish."

 Nadakhan, mouth full of kebab, replied with "No no no no, I would never dream. Please, eat. I simply want your company."

 I hadn't eaten in what felt like forever, and the food looked so good, so I quickly began eating. I'm not proud of it, but that's what happened.

 "Though we are from different worlds, we share something in common. An affinity for a special someone." Nadakhan said as I ate.

 I swallowed my food and responded with "Sorry pal, I don't know who this lost love of yours is, but she ain't Nya. She's too good for both of us. And she makes up her own mind." I really meant that. Nya is too good for me, and she's _definitely_ too good for a guy like Nadakhan.

 "Maybe, but I have made up my mind." Nadakhan said, getting up from the table and moving over to the wall. He picked up a drink and started pouring it for me. "All my life I've been blessed with the ability to grant wishes for others, but cursed to have none of my own. Though born unto a king, everything that is mine I had to work for." He moved to look out the back window. "The food, this ship, this crew-"

 "That accent." I said, just to annoy him.

 Nadakhan continued. "Truth be told, I don't care about any world, nor winning Nya's heart."

 "Then why are you doing all of this?" I asked, half because I was curious, half because I had been trying to get my electricity to work ever since the ball and chain was removed and I needed to keep Nadakhan distracted.

 "I don't need her heart, I only need her hand in marriage, because when a Djinn becomes king on Djinn land, he is bestowed the greatest gift of all."

 "Love?" I asked, joking, to break the tension and to hide the growing fear in the pit of my stomach. 

 Nadakhan laughed. "No. Infinite wishes!"

 "You never loved Delara! You only loved what she could give you!"

 "And after I take your friends, and take your home, Nya will be mine. and no one will be able to stop me. I will be more powerful than anyone can ever imagine!" 

 Nadakhan had his back to me, now was my chance. I threw a lightning bolt at him, but he poofed out of the way. Suddenly, he was behind me. Nadakhan grabbed my arm and shouted "Too slow, junkyard boy!" I simply sighed as the map that I had zapped instead of Nadakhan burned.

 The ball and chain was locked back around my ankle and I was thrown rather forcefully into my cell. I hit my head on the floor, hard, so now my head was pulsing with pain, I was tired, and my legs and hands were still sore. I fell asleep thinking about those words, _junkyard boy_. I thought about how they summed up everything I am. Some pathetic, worthless kid who grew up in a junkyard. In the middle of the desert. I didn't even have any neighbors. It was just me and my parents. Well, my adoptive parents. Not even my birth parents wanted to keep me.

 Did any of my friends miss me? Were they trying to save me? Did they care?

 Did I?

 The next day I was cleaning the deck, again. I overheard Flintlocke settle a dispute between Monkey Wretch and Clancee, and when he got close enough to me, I started talking.

 "The crew listens to you."

 "Nadakhan is a good cap'n. My job is to just make sure his ship runs smoothly." Flintlocke responded.

 "But how do you make sure everything runs smoothly when your captain doesn't tell you everything you need to know?"

 "Oh yeah? Like what?"

 "It's nice of you all to help him make this world-"

 I was interrupted by Flintlocke saying "Djinnjago is for all of us."

 "Maybe," I continued, "but how long do you think he'll keep you around when he gets infinite wishes?" 

 "Everybody knows Nadakhan don't get no wishes and ain't nobody can wish fer that."

 "That's not what he told me. After a Djinn prince marries on Djinn land, he gets it all. And I've seen how he looks at Nya, reminding him of his Delara. But what do I know? I'm just the low man on the totem pole. You've helped him build so much, I'm sure he'll need you around when he can wish for anything."

 Flintlocke considered what I'd told him, stroking his mustache in thought.

 I kept going. "But listen to me, the crew listens to you. If you're gonna stage a mutiny, now's the time, before he's all powerful. Don't let him take advantage."

 Just then, Nadakhan floated up behind me. "What lies is our little canary whistling now, hm? Perhaps another ploy to escape?"

 I couldn't let Nadakhan manipulate his way out of this one. I needed Flintlocke to be on my side. "Its true! He's the one that's lying! He told me everything at dinner!"

 "Right, and I have trouble shooting water in an ocean." Flintlocke walked away with Nadakhan, both of them laughing. It was over. Flintlocke didn't believe me. I angrily returned to mopping the deck.

 "We're being too hard on our guest. Perhaps it's time we involve him in some of our on-ship entertainment." Nadakhan said to Flintlocke. I immediately knew this wasn't gonna be good.

 "You don't mean Scrap n' Tap, do ya?" Flintlocke asked. They both laughed.

 Nervously, I asked "Uh, what's Scrap n' Tap?"

* * *

 

 I was in a lower deck of the ship standing in a ring outlined with boxes. Pirates were cheering as Monkey Wretch stepped up to fight. I thought it would be easy, considering how small Monkey Wretch was.

 I was wrong.

 "Let the scrap begin!" Shouted Nadakhan, and the pirates' cheering got louder. Monkey Wretch kicked me in the chest and sent me sprawling onto my back. I could actually hear my ribs cracking. I got back up and Monkey Wretch jumped on my head, tearing at my hair and skin. I managed to throw him off, but he kicked my feet out from under me, and I fell backward, my ball and chain landing on my stomach. If a few of my ribs weren't broken before, they sure were now. Monkey Wretch was the winner of that round. I got up and tried to tap out, but Nadakhan stopped me.

 "The loser doesn't tap out, only the winner does! You have to stay in until someone else loses. Who's next?"

 Monkey Wretch tapped Doubloon, who grabbed his staff and entered the ring. I blocked his first attack, but he swiftly hit me in the neck, knocking me sideways. I stayed on my feet, though, and tackled Doubloon. He quickly recovered, and swung at my side as hard as he could, and I was back on the ground. Doubloon won, fast.

 Nadakhan approached me and whispered, "This could go on all day, unless you want to want to wish it all away? Just say the words and it'll all be over!"

 I slowly rose back to my feet and said "Bring it on!" I was tired and in pain, but I refused to give in.

 The ground shook as Dogshank stomped into the ring. She towered over me, and I took a step back. Dogshank punched me in the face, hard, and sent me flying to the other side of the ring, right into a group of spectating pirates. They pushed me back in the ring and I stumbled towards Dogshank. I lost two teeth, my mouth was bleeding, and I was dizzy, but I was still too stubborn to give up. She stomped me into the ground, and I could feel my left shoulder popping out of place. I got up on my hands and knees and spit blood and one more tooth onto the floor. I was miserable, and weak, and hopeless, but the last thing I wanted was for Nadakhan to win. I got back up. Dogshank hit me from the side, crashing me into the wall and making my ribs worse than they already were. On the bright side, she popped my shoulder back into place. I slid to the ground. Dogshank won.

 One more pirate stepped into the ring after that. I never learned her name, but one thing I did know: She had a big-ass knife. The pirate lunged toward me, and I actually managed to roll out of the way. She kicked me in the ribs and I crumbled. I fell to my knees, yelping in pain. The pirate pushed me onto my back and stabbed her knife right through my left eye, dragging it down through my cheek. I could feel the metal slicing through my flesh as the stunned crowd actually fell silent. The only sound was my screaming as she dragged her blade through my skin. The game was announced over and I was sent back to my cell, beaten and bruised, covering what remained of my left eye with one hand and covering my ribs with the other, spitting blood onto the floor.

 That night, while everyone else was asleep, Clancee gave me a tray of food. "You have to eat!" He said.

 "I'm not hungry." I replied, slurring my words.

 "You fought really well. You held your own, like a real pirate. You should have this so you look the part!" Clancee tossed an eye patch down into my cell and walked away. I put it on so that it covered my nonexistent left eye. I realized that in the reflection I saw of the future, I was wearing an eye patch. Part of me felt reassured, but another part of me felt disgusted.

  _It's never gonna happen. Just because you lost an eye doesn't mean you'll get back together. She doesn't like you, and why would she? You're poor, you're worthless, you're pathetic, and you're annoying. She'd be better off with someone else._

 I wished desperately to put the mask of confidence and arrogance back on, but that's hard to do when you're bleeding out alone in a cell.

  _"Psst."_

 I looked up and saw Flintlocke through the cell door.

 "What do you want now?" I asked, and I spit more blood onto the floor.

 "Maybe you're right. Maybe he doesn't need us after all this. But the only way we're gonna stage a mutiny is if we can get his sword away from him. You think you can handle that?"

 "What am I supposed to do? I'm the one locked up down here."

 Flintlocke held up a key and said "Wait until he's asleep and make your move. We'll be right behind ya." He passed the key to me and left.

 I had a limp, one good eye and I was bleeding from my mouth, but I wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to escape. I unlocked my cell door and snuck into Nadakhan's room. It was dark, but I could see the silhouette of the sword on the wall next to Nadakhan's bed. I tip-toed over to it and grabbed it, only to realize that the sword was made of cardboard. It was a fake. The lights turned on and I turned around to see Flintlocke with several other pirates.

 "I told you we'd be right behind ya." Flintlocke said, and the other pirates laughed.

 The Nadakhan in the bed was a mannequin, and the real one came out of his hiding spot.

 "Well I was wrong, he did fall for it!" Nadakhan exclaimed, and Clancee followed up with "Even _I'm_ not that pin-headed!"

 "If we're all up, I guess we have time for another round of Scrap n' Tap!" Nadakhan announced, causing the pirates to cheer.

 Nadakhan leaned in close to me and said "That is unless you want to wish it all away."

 It was tempting. I was tired and stressed and alone and beaten beyond recognition, but I couldn't give Nadakhan what he wanted. I refused.

 That next round of Scrap n' Tap gave me a twisted ankle, a busted jaw, some more rib damage and a huge bump in the center of my forehead.

* * *

 

 They didn't let me out of my cell for another two days. No mopping. No Scrap n' Tap. Nobody came to give me food. I was completely alone with my thoughts. Why hadn't anyone come to save me? Were they still on that island? Did they want to save me? It's not like I made a huge contribution to the team; they'd do fine without me. Besides, they were really mad at me for making two wishes. I didn't blame them, I was probably the biggest idiot in all of Ninjago. Well, even if they didn't care about saving me, they definitely cared about stopping Nadakhan. Not only was he tearing Ninjago apart, but he also had Kai, Zane, Wu and Misako trapped in the sword. Nya, Cole and Lloyd definitely wanted to save them. They would get here eventually, and whether or not they would rescue me was a coin toss. I desperately wanted to think that they were still my friends, that they would get me out of this Hell hole, but nothing would change the fact that I was dead weight. The team would be better without me. Nya would be better without me. The world would be better without me.

 I started sobbing, cold and alone and hungry, tears only flowing out of my right eye because my left was shredded. I choked and screamed and in my condition, crying only made me out of breath, so I was gasping for air with hot tears streaming down the right side of my face. I looked absolutely pathetic. Crying was only putting me in more pain, but I couldn't stop, because I was just so miserable, and I cried for what felt like hours before I finally ran out of tears and was just gasping and choking and heaving, if I had anything in my stomach I would have thrown up.

 When they finally let me out I looked absolutely disgusting. I was skinny and bruised and covered in scabs, chunks of my hair were missing, I had bags under my eyes and dried tears on the right side of my face. The first thing Nadakhan asked me was if I wanted to wish it all away. I said nothing. I just glared at him. Nadakhan scowled and threw me into another round of Scrap n' Tap. I only lasted one round. I was fighting against a male pirate twice my size. He was taller, stronger, and he wasn't starving. One punch knocked me clean off my feet. He was on top of me, delivering blow after blow. When it became apparent that I wasn't fighting back, he was declared the winner. I was still on the ground, staring as he walked away, my vision blurring.

 I blacked out and woke up in my cell. I sat there for the rest of the day, staring at the wall and not really thinking of anything.

 The next day I was sent to clean the floors in Nadakhan's room. I had been absent-mindedly scrubbing for maybe 20 minutes when I saw a green translucent figure cross over to the table.

 At first I thought I was imagining it, but when the figure picked up a bottle of grog and tried to open it, I realized it was really there. And then I realized who it was.

 It was Cole. I couldn't believe it. I had lost all hope that anyone would come, but he was here and he had the Tiger Widow venom and he was trying to put it in Nadakhan's drink.

 He hadn't seen me when he walked in, so to get his attention, I said, in a raspy, dehydrated voice: "Cole? Is that you?"

 He turned to face me, and immediately dropped the venom and the grog and ran towards me. "Jay! You're okay! What happened to your eye?"

 I didn't feel like explaining that I got stabbed in the eye with a huge knife, so I avoided that question and instead asked "Why are you dressed like a pirate?"

 "Don't worry about that. Our friends are nearby. We're gonna get you outta here." Cole then produced a key from his pocket and unlocked my ball and chain. It felt so nice to lose that weight, but it also reminded me of how I looked. There was a cut running from under my eye patch to the center of my left cheek, and the most recent round of Scrap n' Tap left it so that there were pieces of scab hanging off, fresh blood leaking out. My hair was messy and knotted, sticking out in every direction, and some of it had been even been ripped out. I had tried to twist my right ankle back to the direction it was supposed to be facing when I was in my cell, which was incredibly painful, but it was still bent at an odd angle, I was covered in more bruises and gashes than I could ever count, and I was missing several teeth. Cole was probably horrified.

 He helped me to my feet and kept his arm around me for support. "Boy am I glad to see you," I said, "Cole, I'm sorry about keeping stuff from you, I should've told you that-"

 "-And I should've been a better friend. Don't worry about it, save your strength. We can laugh about this when it's all behind us." Cole interrupted.

 We heard banging beyond the door and hid. Cole shoved me in the closet and then hid behind the bed with my ball and chain. Then, Nadakhan burst into the room. Cole never poured the venom into the grog, and the bottle of venom was sitting right there on the table. Luckily, Nadakhan didn't notice. Besides, Nadakhan didn't even drink the grog. He reached for a pitcher, realized that it was empty, and shouted that someone better plunder a new case of fiddlehead cider. Nadakhan was about to leave when a gust of wind tilted the ship, and a ball and chain that wasn't attached to anybody rolled out from under the bed.

 "Our prisoner has escaped! Search the ship!" Nadakhan shouted, storming out of his room. When he was gone, Cole grabbed me and we ran. Well, the best I could do was a quick-paced shuffle, but we were moving. Cole completely forgot about the venom on the table. We could hear Flintlocke over the speaker system saying "All hands keep an eye out fer anything suspicious. The prisoner has escaped."

 We were passing through one of the lower decks, the one used to play Scrap n' Tap, when Cole stopped.

 "The Venom!"

 "You left it?! We can't go back!"

 "And we can't go on without it! It's too important! I'll tell you where Lloyd and Nya are! You can fly to them-"

 "I can't spark up my dragon. I've been scrubbing the ship every waking moment." I was half lying when I said that, but an in-depth description of my torture on that ship was not really a priority.

 A small aircraft suddenly pulled up next to the deck.

 "There they are!" Cole announced, hurrying over to them. "Follow me!" We airjitsu'd over to the aircraft and landed in front of not Lloyd and Nya, but Dogshank, Doubloon and Flintlocke. I automatically stood protectively in front of Cole. It didn't matter how injured I was, they weren't taking him. I refused to let him go through what I went through. We looked over to the top deck of the Misfortune's Keep, and we saw Lloyd and Nya tied up and being held by Clancee, Monkey Wretch and Nadakhan. Doubloon steered the airship back to the Misfortune's Keep and Cole, Lloyd and I were thrown in the brig, all with vengestone ball-and-chains. They took Nya somewhere else.

 I used to think that I would give anything to be with a friend when I spent all those cold nights alone in my cell, but when we were all together down there, I realized that I'd rather be alone than have them anywhere near that horrible place.

 Cole kept trying to break his chain with his super strength, but it was useless. "It's Vengestone, remember? You can't ghost through it, and your super duper strength won't work anymore." I was slightly annoyed, but that was because I had given up all hope of getting out. These guys just got here. They still had hope.

 "Cole, you said you left the venom in his quarters?" Lloyd asked.

 Cole replied with "Yeah, well, hopefully Nya can get to it."

 "How? She doesn't even know it's there! I don't like her being alone with that silky-voiced seducer, if he lays one hand on her, I-"

 I was interrupted by Lloyd saying "Don't worry! We won't let that happen!"

 "We better not, 'cause if he takes her hand in marriage, he'll reach his true potential, and we'll all be hooped when he has infinite wishes!"

 Cole jumped up, surprised. "Infinite wishes? He'll be unstoppable!"

 Lloyd chimed in with "But then his crew will be expendable! Maybe we can convince them to-"

 "I already tried! They wouldn't believe me!" I sighed and slid down onto the floor. "Thanks for trying to save me but maybe it would've been better if you never came." 

 "Hey, we may not have our elemental powers, but we're not without hope! Between the three of us and Nya, we have ten wishes-" I shut Lloyd down right there. Wishes were the reason we were in this mess. I was beaten and tortured and I had still been able to resist making any more. I wasn't about to let Lloyd make any.

 "Wishes?! Do you wanna think that through? Making wishes is why we're up here!"

 "Yeah! and when he turns them around on you, you'll beg for him to wish it away! And that only makes him more powerful!" Cole added.

 I continued with "No wishes, Lloyd! Things may be bad, but they can still get worse!" I was telling the truth. Things could get much, much worse.

 "Okay, okay!" Lloyd conceded, "No wishes! Only as a last resort. I just hope Nya's fairing better than we are."

* * *

 

 A couple minutes later, we were being dragged out of our cell, and some pirates were setting up the plank. Dogshank restrained Nya, who was screaming "You wouldn't dare!" Clancee and Flintlocke were escorting us to the plank.

 "I give the orders around here," Nadakhan was saying to Nya, "the sooner you learn that, the smoother it will go."

 "You hurt them and you can forget about any deal!" Nya shouted.

 "Then agree to marry me right now, and it'll all be over." Retaliated Nadakhan.

 "Nya, don't do it! It'll make him all pow-" Cole's warning was interrupted by Nadakhan shoving him onto the plank and saying "The black one goes first." Clancee and Flintlocke shoved Cole's ball and chain off the plank, making Cole lose his balance and almost fall.

 "I will ask you again, Nya. Give me your hand and they live."

 Nya looked conflicted. Nadakhan pressed further.

 "I remind you, below us is nothing but ocean, and just what does water do to ghosts?"

 Nadakhan and Nya both looked over to Cole, who was standing at the end of the plank and clutching his ball and chain to his chest, looking panicked. Lloyd shouted "Nya! You can't!" Nya was making worried glances in between Cole and Nadakhan when suddenly, Flintlocke spoke up.

 "I don't get it. We should be pushin' her over. You said that all that matters is Djinnjago, not her."

 Nadakhan got angry. "Quiet, you hairy-lipped fool! Or should there be one more walking the plank?" He grabbed Flintlocke and pushed him toward the plank. "Push him over!" Nadakhan ordered, and Flintlocke tried to push Cole off.

 "I wish-"

 I immediately shouted "Cole don't do it!" I couldn't let him wish. Wishing ruined everything.

 "You wish?" Nadakhan asked, intrigued.

 "I wish Vengestone didn't stop our powers, but made them stronger!"

 Nadakhan granted it, and we could all immediately feel a surge in power.

 "If he's within earshot, he has to grant the wish!" Lloyd realized.

 "Get them!" A female pirate rushed Cole, but he was easily able to jump over her and knock Flintlocke's sword out of his hand. We were all backing towards the center of the deck. Nya flipped Dogshank and said "I wish someone told me we were gonna use wishes!"

 "Your wish is yours to keep!"

 The team and I were all standing in a circle, facing outward. "Careful not to waste wishes! That's two down with eight left!" Lloyd warned.

 "Remember the rules! You can't wish for love, death, or more wishes!" Cole added.

 My lightning was getting out of control. "Cole's wish made our powers too strong! I can't control it! I knew this was a bad idea, but nobody listens!" Needless to say, I was angry that people were wishing.

 "We have to break off the ball and chains!" Lloyd shouted, destroying his with an energy blast. He then destroyed ours, too.

 Just then, Flintlocke pulled out his gun. "I ain't afraid to shoot you where you stand!"

 Lloyd was the one to yell "I wish you were a lousy shot!"

 Flintlocke fired, and missed. There wasn't anything in front of us, we didn't move, he was only a few feet away, and he missed. Everyone was shocked.

 "I never miss!" Flintlocke shouted and looked to Nadakhan. Nadakhan simply shrugged.

 Flintlocke fired again, and again, and again, missing every time. One of the bullets ricocheted off of a metal bar and put a hole in the balloon of a passing airship.

 "Stop firing or else you're going to put a hole in all of us!" Nadakhan ordered.

 "And would everyone stop wishing!" I shouted, tired and angry. "Nothing good is going to come of this!"

 Lloyd spun into spinjitsu, along with the rest of us (albeit my spinning was a little wonky because of my condition), and we were back to beating up pirates. Nadakhan pulled out his sword and used Zane's powers to cover the floor in ice. Everyone was slipping and sliding, both our team and theirs. I slipped and fell but I caught myself with my left hand, and I could feel my ring finger pop out of place.

 I couldn't stop Cole from saying "I wish he didn't have that sword!"

 The sword flew out of Nadakhan's hand. Flintlocke jumped up, caught it, and handed it back to Nadakhan.

 Enraged, I yelled "Well! You got what you wished for boulder brain! Words matter! We can't just be firing off wishes from the hip like this!"

 "That's six left!" Lloyd mentioned, "We have to be wiser with what we wish for!"

 Why would nobody listen to me? "No! Not wiser! Quieter! No! More! Wishes!"

 Lloyd wasn't paying any attention to what I was saying. Instead, he said "How about this; I wish I was wise like Wu!"

 The wish was granted, and suddenly, Lloyd found perfect balance on the ice. "Clever boy!" Nadakhan remarked. Lloyd slid past gracefully, knocking down pirates with ease.

 "Yeah! Maybe we're over thinking this! Why hasn't anyone just said 'I wish us all out of here!"

 Cole really shouldn't have wished that.

 The Misfortune's Keep creaked and groaned as it tilted in the air. "You fool!" Nadakhan cried.

 Everyone began sliding off the ship, people grabbed onto the plank and the walls to avoid falling hundreds of feet into the ocean below. "We really need to start listening to me!" I shrieked, sliding down the ice.

 "Make it stop!" Flintlocke shouted from his position hanging onto the edge of the ship.

 "I can't!" Nadakhan replied, sliding. "He's wished us all out of here!"

 I was holding onto a piece of the ship with my one good hand as it continued to tilt, dumping out crates and barrels onto the screaming people hanging on for dear life. I saw the bottle of the venom rolling down the ship, and caught it as it fell.

 Nya, who was hanging onto a piece of the wall, exclaimed "I really wish you hadn't said that, Cole!'

 "I heard that! It's yours to keep!" Nadakhan shouted to Nya.

 I couldn't believe it. I had managed not to make any wishes for so long, and these guys were already down to three left. "There's another one wasted! You really aren't very good at this!"

 The Misfortune's Keep was completely vertical; you either kept a tight grip or fell to your doom.

 Suddenly, I could hear Lloyd hanging somewhere above me saying "I'm not just getting wiser, I'm getting older!" And sure enough, he was. Lloyd looked a lot older than his real age, he had wrinkles and graying hair. He was staring into his reflection in the ice, terrified.

 I had to do something. "He wants you to wish it away! You can't!"

 People were losing their grip.

 "Well unless someone wishes something quick, we're all gonna fall! And don't look at me, I don't have any left!" Cole shouted. Nya fell, but grabbed onto Cole's foot. They were steady for a second, but then Cole lost his grip, too. They were falling fast, and Nya yelled "Then I wish those clouds would stop us!" Her wish was granted, and she and Cole landed softly on a cloud. The rest of us lost our grip, too, and everyone fell onto the clouds. And then, everyone was right back to fighting. Lloyd got knocked onto his back and couldn't get up.

 "Lloyd! What's happening to you?" Nya asked.

 "Don't worry about me! Jay and I each have one wish left, and I'm not going to use it to save myself!" The aging Lloyd responded.

 "But you'll continue to get decrepit, and you already sound like an old person! Let me use my last wish to save you!" I didn't like wishing, but I didn't want my friend to suffer.

 "Jay! The wise thing to do is to save it! I see beyond the now! You'll need it!"

 "For when?!"

 "For when it's said from the heart!" 

 Now Lloyd really was talking like Wu. "Said from the heart? Hearts don't talk!"

 Nadakhan approached us and exclaimed "You think you can use your wishes to stop me?"

 Lloyd's response was to shout "I wish for a sword!" A sword suddenly appeared in Lloyd's hand, and he spoke; "No, Nadakhan! I _know_ our wishes will stop you! Just not today!" Then, Lloyd used the sword to pierce the cloud Nya and I were on, deflating it, and sending us falling.

 And falling.

 And falling.

 "We have to create our dragons!" Nya shouted to me. I could barely hear her over the blood pounding in my eardrums.

 "I don't have enough energy! I'm not strong enough!" All that torture I had endured left me drained, and I thought I was going to die.

 But of course Nya would never allow that. "Then we'll be strong together! Hold on to me!" She grabbed my hands and I could feel her power surging through me. It was almost enough to knock me unconscious. a dragon materialized under us, but not just a water dragon or a lightning dragon. It was both.

 It was a storm dragon.

 We had combined our elements to create a more powerful dragon, and Nya was already flying it away from the Misfortune's Keep. Away from the pirates. Away from Nadakhan.

 We would go on to resolve our issues, stop Nadakhan and save everyone, but Tiger Widow Island, where everyone was against me, is where my torture began, and on that dragon, when Nya saved my life, is where it ended.


End file.
